Just wanted to lay out where we are and where we are going for a full disclosure type of thing.

It has been decided that we need to upgrade the server. We are on the edge of what it can handle as it is so it is inevitable anyway. In order to keep a good uptime and stop the frustration with the dying server as I try to ink every last ounce of performance,I think it is the right decision.

That said, I have gotten many very generous offers of assistance and, of course, I am more than happy to share the costs of running the site. I just want everyone to know exactly where the money stands with the site and I try to be as open as possible with it all.

Overall, server costs since we got a "real" server is about $1200. This is from April of 2006 when I switched to a bigger server to handle the traffic. Those expenditures will take us through the end of this month. Total donations during that time were $965 dollars. Some of those funds were diverted to StrolenCon and other small prizes for quests and such but I have no idea how much those costs came to. If I tried to figure them out I know I would still owe Murometz so we won’t go down that road. (Thanks again Muro!)

So for a $1200 cost to run the site, your generous donations paid for $965 of that and I am GREATLY appreciative. It is awesome that you care about our community enough to donate and everybody that uses it thanks you, especially me!

I am going to upgrade the server this week and will put down a payment of $615 to cover the next year and we should be good for awhile with the new server's power.

Just wanted those that wish to donate know exactly where everything stands.

Thanks again for supporting strolen.com with your donations and ESPECIALLY your submissions and comments. You are what makes it so much fun to be here and I can guarantee there are thousands that browse the site and steal your ideas that thank you for it. So, on behalf of The Horde, thanks for your ideas as well!!

1. Nude calender, each month featuring the respective winners of the last 12 quests.2. Bake Sale (Dont kid yourself, the girlscouts make a fortune!)3. Scras robs the factory. Three weeks later, 16,000 pairs of socks are auctioned off on E-Bay by one, "Anonymous Socklover". Payments wired via the Cayman Islands bank.4. Moonhunter finishes G2, and the phenomenon sweeps across the world in a matter of days. During a global Bradbury moment, all non-G2 gaming material is burned in synchronized bonfires! Remembering his citadel roots, despite his sudden fame and fortune, Moon "gives back", agreeing to donate $100 to the site for every released submision.5. We call google, and ask them to buy us.6. manfred and val design a generator which somehow manages to spit out money7. We start charging to read submissions. 10 cents per sub, if you want to read past the tagline. (double for Quest subs of course)

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.